Lambo 4.0, Ranking VV's, Small Issues and a Really Big One

[tonyorion]

I have been using both the 18650 and Mini, and my overall impression is positive. But if I were to rank it in order of my other vv's, it would go on the bottom. Does that mean that it is a bad unit and won't give you many hours of enjoyable vaping? Absolutely not!!!
I don't have a Darwin or Kick but have tried them both. The Darwin, IMHO, is a disaster ergonomically, not to mention it's price; the Kick lacks the true convenience of a variable volt device. Different combinations of vaporizers (atty/tank/carto, etc.) and juices all seem to have a sweet spot as far as voltage (and yes, wattage) is concerned. Vaporizers do not maintain uniform performance during their lifetimes. Being able to kick the voltage up or down easily to fine tune the taste is important to me. It may not be as important to others.

This is my ranking:

1) ProVari- Still King of the Hill although one has to ask if its performace and convenience really justify the price in comparison to the competition.
2) VMax- would be a real challenger to the ProVari if it were not for the annoying having to reset everything from the voltage to the display every time you change batteries.
3) Young Jun (Spelling?). Really powerfull PWM unit that delivers a constant set voltage even though the screen sucks and has the annoying reset with the battery change. Fairly inexpensive.
4) Buzz Pro. Nothing fancy in terms of options, no screen, but it does work and the rotary dial is a real convenience. Pricey.
5) Lambo 4.0. Good vaping performace although it is not a PWM unit and the performance does drop as the battery drains. It has a sucky screen. It is inexpensive.


My biggest gripe against the Lambo is the floating pin which is an invitation to a disaster. juice will leak out of the bottom hole of most vaporizers, and the heat from the vaporizer will cook the juice even more. I have seen what that seeping juice did to my first mod, a Screwdriver MKII. Only in the case of the Screwdriver, I could throw the head into an ultrasonic bath to clean it. The head cannot be taken off and there is not much room in the pin area to clean it. I shudder to think of what would happen if juice leaked into the electronics. A short term solution to protect the pin would be to use an extension with a sealed bottom. IMHO, the benefits of a floating pin do not justify the risk.

 

[Magic Of Light]

But also you forgot to mention that Vmax and Young june are not tuned properly and have a minimum voltage setting of 4.5. Because they are tuned to average voltage and not VRMS.

 

[billherbst]

Magic,

I haven't noticed that my Young-June Vtubes are mis-calibrated in any significant way. Maybe a little, but not much. Compared to my ProVari and Penguins tin VV mod, the Young-June Vtubes provide a similar vape at the same voltages. Not saying that you're wrong, just that my experience is different.

By contrast, my Vmax and Ovale V8 are so badly mis-tuned that I have never set either to any voltage above 3.6, even for a 3.0 ohm atty/carto. Effectively, that limits their usefulness to me, since I like vaping LR atties/cartos at 3.7 volts (for instance, Phoenix/CE3 bottom-coil cartos are great, but they don't perform well over 4 volts). Neither the Vmax nor the V8 will actually deliver 3.7 volts---minimum is in the mid-4 volt range, even at a setting of 3.0 volts.

I agree with the OP that the floating positive pin in the 510 connector of the L-Rider Lambos is a deal-breaker.

By the way, my new black chrome Young-June Vtube (presumably from the most recent production runs) has a sharp, clear, high-contrast display screen. No more tilting the tube awkwardly to try to read washed-out numbers. The new display is a pleasure. Whether or not the new Young-Junes will last remains to be seen. (Although both my five-month-old black YJ v1.5t units are still going strong, my YJ chrome v2.0 Vtube died after only three months---first the top connector assembly came off the tube, then the 510 connector itself failed.)

 

[Magic Of Light]

Yeah I cant justify paying 50 bucks for a mod tube really though when I could get 2 twists for that price. Sure there is no ohm reading or battery life readout, but they are basically garaunteed to last you 6 months unless your a chain vaper or abuse them.

Do the Young Junes have a supplier based in the USA you can send to for repairs?

 

[A17kawboy]

Yeah I cant justify paying 50 bucks for a mod tube really though when I could get 2 twists for that price. Sure there is no ohm reading or battery life readout, but they are basically garaunteed to last you 6 months unless your a chain vaper or abuse them.

Do the Young Junes have a supplier based in the USA you can send to for repairs?

Not that I have heard of on the YJ.
And while I am a huge fan of the twists too I also realize that they are basically a disposable device. They work fantastically until you drop them. Found out the hard way. The switch seems to be the weak point.
In my case it's not if I'm gonna drop them but when. Lanyard helps.
edit: I've got a V1 Lambo and have found the center pin can be an issue on Vivi Nova's. The pin is so small in diameter it slides up into the airhole blocking it off if you don't angle the tank when beginning to thread it on. Anyone hear of the pin leaking in normal everyday use? While I could see it happening I don't recall anyone mentioning it.

 

[billherbst]

Do the Young Junes have a supplier based in the USA you can send to for repairs?

Not that I know of. I'm guessing that Young-June would probably repair it for free (by replacing the entire top connector/drip well assembly, since the 510 connector will not come out of the assembly---believe me, I tried, even with brute force hammer and chisel---but that would involve shipping to China and whatever other hassles would come emerge from trying to arrange an around-the-world, two-languge RMA and repair.

I suppose I could take the top connector assembly to a machine shop and have them drill out the broken 510 connector, but who knows what that would cost, and then I'd still have the problem of somehow securing a new 510 connector in a hole that might be too large. Super-glue or JB Weld don't strike me as a "secure" means of re-assembly, since the 510 connector gets all the stress of screwing and unscrewing cartos.

In my particular situation, it was easier to simply retire the broken chrome unit to the junk parts bin and order a new black chrome Mini for $50 shipped. I'm glad I did, actually, since I much prefer the light weight and the dramatically improved display screen. Sure, I wish the Mini didn't eat 18350 IMR batteries like candy, but one battery swap per day doesn't ruin anything for me, especially since the Mini seems to maintain voltage right up to auto-cutoff. I'd much rather swap out batteries (which takes all of one minute) than wait 2-3 hours to use the device again, as we're forced to do with most usb-recharging eGo batts, Twists included.

As I wrote above, the only question for me at this point is how well the Mini will hold up over time.